Merry Christmas
THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
.Volume 35, No. 51 USPS 428-060 Hertford, Perquimans County, N.C., Monday, Dec. 24, 1979 20 CENTS
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The Chriftmas tree on the Courthouse Square is lit with a thousand memories. Each light, sold by the Hertford BPW Club, was sold in
memory of some loved one.
) State bean crop largest ever
North Carolina farmers
have completed the harvest of
what appears to be one of the
largest soybean crops ever
produced In the state.
But Perquimans County
farmers did not fare so well as
con earworm damage and
periodic heavy rainfall con
tributed to a crop yield that
was slightly below average. ,
Soybean yield per acre is
traditionally above state
average in the esenty, and
extension chairman Bill
Jester estimated, after talking
to farmers across the county,
that this year's yield was
. some 27 bushels per acre.
! Statewide, the si* of the
1171 crop is pegged at 44.4
mOUta bushels, 8 percent
larger than the record 41.2
mmkw produced last year.
more than the '78 crop.
Nationally, soybean far
mers are enjoying a banner
year. The U.S. crop is
estimated to be a record 2.24
billion acres, up 20 percent
over the previous record set in
1978.
The average yield for the
nation is expected to be nearly
32 bushels per acre, over two
bushels more than last year's
crop.
Acreage for the harvest in
the U.S. was 70.2 million
acres, or 11 percent more than
the 63.3 million harvested in
?78.
The trouble in Perquimans
County was that wet weather
delayed planting to the extent
that late beans were more
susceptible to the corn ear
worm, Jester said.
The problem was further
compounded by a shortage of
crop dusting planes.
It was, however, a mixed
season in which farmers in
some parts of the county
enjoyed yields of up to 38
bushels per acre while others
suffered through a season that
saw production at little over 20
bushels per acre, Jester said.
EIC program
F uel help short of need
The Economic Im
provement Council office in
Hertford has been literally
swamped with applications
for fuel help this winter, and
EIC coordinator Grace Dison
?aid that the county's
alocatkm of cash has been
virtuUr expiied already.
Ms. Dtsoa said on Thursday
that altar she had processed 10
mere applications she would
he o*t of money for the
"1 could be o*
.really," she sakl.
? recieved $12,455
i the N.C. Department of
Natural Resource! and
Community Development to
aid needy families in paying
their fuel bills.
So far, 55 persons have been
approved for the assistance
plan, which pays up to $200
directly to oil companies for
fuel bolt.
Several more applications
are in the process of being
Eligible recipients were
these families whose
household income was leas
than IS percent of poverty
There ia one small
drawback to the assistance
program, though. The county
allocation isn't nearly enough
to help all those residents who
are eligible.
Fundi were distributed on a
first come, first served basis,
and families who haven't
already contacted the EIC
office are probably too late.
"I could use at least twice or
three times this amount at
money," Ms. Dixon said.
"The one glimmer of hope
for securing more funds is that
other counties a crocs North
Carolina might not use all of
up money to go back to less
prosperous counties," she
said.
Two other programs will
help families boy fuel this
winter in Perquimans County.
Those persons who redeve
supplemental security income
will be mailed checks for $73
in mid-January.
Those who receive aid to
families with dependent
children income will get
assistance ranging from $100
to $300.
The maximum amount any
family can receive from all
MUMS, however, is $200.
Marching unit,
band forge
compromise
An agreement has been
reached that may ease friction
between two county youth
organizations that had
previously been at odds.
The Perquimans County
Board of Education approved
last Monday a merger bet
ween the Perquimans County
High School Band and the
Perquimans County Marching
Unit.
The decision was made after
an earlier meeting of a
committee appointed by the
board of education and con
sisting of members
representing both the band
and the marching unit's in
terests.
After lengthy discussion, the
committee agreed to work
together and left the matter up
to the discretion of Pat
Harrell, Perquimans County
Superintendent of Schools.
Harrell proposed the
merger to the board with the
following conditions :
All decisions pertaining to the
organization, development of
the band program, band ac
tivities and performances,
uniforms, support apparatus
used performing, etc. shall be
governed by the Perquimans
County Board of Education,
the school administration and
the band director.
All participants in the band
program shall be subject to
Board of Education and school
policies, rules and
regulations.
Former Marching Unit par
ticipants may participate in
the band without being
required to play an instrument
only during the 1980-81, 1981-82
and 1982-83 school years.
Beginning with the 1983-84
school year all band members
will be required to play an
instrument.
Former Marching Unit par
ticipants will not be required
to attend formal band class,
and will not recieve academic
credit for band participation.
The unit shall be referred to as
one unit, "The Perquimans
County High School Band."
Harrell called the time
between the 1980-81 and 1983
84 school year "a period of
transition," and necassary to
give present members of the
marching unit an opportunity
to join the band.
Although, according to
Harrell, some marching unit
members have said that they
would not join the band for
personal reasons, some have
indicated that they did intend
to join.
Harrell said that he was
pleased with the action taken
by the board to join the two
units, calling it "a positive
step."
In another matter, the board
reviewed results pertaining to
the state-required com
petency test administered to
all Perquimans County High
School Juniors this fall.
Perquimans County
students were above the
statewide average in both
reading and math sections of
the test.
"I am well pleased with the
results," said Harrell.
According to Harrell, there
was also a high percentage of
handicapped students who
passed the compentency test.
In an energy audit report,
Harrell said that the
possibility of heating school
buildings in zones was being
investigated.
Harrell said that both
Perquimans Union School and
the P.H.S. King Street
building would be heated in
zones after the engineers'
recommendation.
Central Grammar and
Union School's ceilings are
also being lowered with in
sulation installed above the
ceilings.
Florescent lighting will
replace incandescent lights in
these buildings in another
effort to save energy.
F ood stamps to increase
RALIEGH? More elderly
and disabled North
Carolinians should be eligible
for food stamps when the new
rules go into effect January 1,
1980, and a slight increase in
benefits to all participants will
begin at the same time.
The new rules provide
special medical and shelter
deductions for households
containing persons who are
aged 60 or older, or who
receive Supplemental
Security Income or disability
payments under the Social
Security Act.
"The new deductions were
authorized by Congress in
response to concerns that the
elderly and disabled had been
particularly hard hit by the
tightened eligibility rules of
the Food Stamp Act of 1977,
which eliminated the medical
deduction allowed by the 1964
Act and placed a limit on the
amount of shelter expenses
households could deduct,"
said John H. Kerr, chief of the
Food Assistance Section of the
N.C. Department of Human
Resources.
He said that the new rules
should not only make more
elderly and disabled North
Carolinians eligible, but in
crease the benefits of many of
those now participating in the
stamp program.
In addition to the new rules
affecting the elderly and
disabled, all food stamps
participants will receive a
slight increase in the amount
of stamps they will be
receiving after the first of the
year.
A four-person household
with no net income will
receive a monthly allotment of
$209 in stamps compared to
the $204 they are currently
receiving.
Kerr urges persons who
think they may qualify for the
new deduction to contact their
local department of social
services or call toll free
CARE-LINE 1-800-662-7030 for
details.
Winning letter
Robert Shively, a second grader at Hartford
Grammar School, penned the winning entry
in onr letters to Santa eonteaL The winner of
oar recipe drawing was Mrs. Bruce E. White
of Kt 2, Hertford. For more letters to Santa
and area recipes, see pa?es 12, 13, and 14.